‘EO on palay floor price redundant, ineffective’

Anew executive order (EO) mandating a floor price for palay purchases by government entities will have little impact on farmers and may only complicate the process of setting buying prices, according to the head of a local farmers group.

- By ALDEN MONZON

Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) chair Leonardo Montemayor, a former agriculture secretary, said the measure’s coverage is limited to national government agencies and local government units (LGUs), whose combined purchases make up no more than five percent of total palay production.

“Because their share is very small, they will not influence private traders to raise palay buying prices,” Montemayor told The STAR.

He added that the creation of a pricesetting committee to determine the floor price could lead to bureaucratic delays.